Belgian copy of Brit '37 Pattern webbing

Antarmike wrote:I have one in same colour  It is stamped FN/ZM VOLH 65,  so it is Navy but is in this blue/grey.

Such a small pack I have too. It is in army colour, I mean a Type of Green colour, and not in navy blue. It has FN-ZM markings.

I have an FN-ZM small pack in a rather darker blue shade - distinct from the air force shade. But I also have other FN-ZM items are are in the army khaki colour.

Got a load of random webbing parts, this is all the Belgian stuff that was in it.

Though I will be keeping the L-straps, bayonet frog, top belt, and maybe the duffelbag.

Anyone needs any of the rest, I'd like to hear it.

Also, I came across this pic of the old webbing worn with the newer green uniform (probably mid-late 60's), where the old camo tent half is worn
on the back of the belt as is later also seen on the M71 webbing.
Does anyone know from what year these were issued to normal infantry, and from what year this way of wear became the standard?






Just to be clear, this type.

Those are great photos.
I would have thought that these tents were generally issued upon their introduction in the 1950s. But I think we would have a tough time finding photographs of troops in the field carrying the tents on their belts.

Yeah it's pretty hard finding 50's pics at all, let alone in full combat gear. Most just show skeleton order for practice.
For some reason I've seen people claim the tents were first for commandos etc. only, but I think those ideas are just derived from the fact that the uniforms were.
Up till a certain point, when even some infantry (stormfusellier) units wore suits or just jackets.

Well either way I am going to make up a figure like this one in my display room.

Latest addtion  eft, a shell dressing bag.  I already have one on the right that has no maker or stamp, that I always assumed was British bag adopted by the Belgians but my new one is clearly Belgian made, so now I wonder if my first one is also made by the Belgians.



New bag

Old Bag

Finally I have a food flask for my carrier!

Unfortunately the dates for the carrier and the flask are quite a lot different


But being a late flask, the rubber seal is in good working order

Just got to get the pressure equalising valve working freely and I will be ble to take a hot dinner to any one day shows I attend this year.....

Nice stuff - I have a similar dressing bag. I will check for markings. Given the number of these I have seen in Belgium without any obvious British markings, I had always assumed that they were Belgian made.

Hello

the camo tent half pouch worn by a soldier

Nice catch!

Canvas wash basin...1959?   Looks unissued to me.

Yes, these were around for a long time. At some point I think they changed to rubber.

For the first time I have come across a respirator carrier with air force markings. Also, there is a small paper label/sticker with the owner's name which suggests it was indeed issued to an airman.

Nice find. With Air force markings I don't see such a carrier before.

The E tool for that pouch would be a US made Ames, probably dated 43 or 44. The belgians were still issuing US wartime stock until the mid 1980's.

The E tool will have US markings and nothing in particular to show its use by the ABL.

M-51 gas masks come up on Ebay all the time. Though most do not have a filter 9or a Russian filter has been substituted, (Beware, most Russian filters being sold contain Asbestos.)

masive wrote:Nice find. With Air force markings I don't see such a carrier before.

Yes, I was surprised to find it, and also the relatively late date of 1958. I wonder how long these carriers were in production, given their long period of use.

Oops

oops again

My working theory on these pouches is that they may be for US-type wirecutters. However, the flap doesn't close especially neatly, so they could be intended for something else entirely.
Has anyone seen them elsewhere?

The maker is TAWO, with mid-50s dates.

I Bought a job lot of six ammunition pouches.  The photos I saw were not the best, but I am happy with what I received.



Five of the pouches are  much like others in my collection but the sixth is something a bit different for me





As you can see it is a driver's pouch.

I am not sure whether it was made as such or whether it is converted from the normal pouch.

The loop is a different colour stitching to most of the rest of the pouch.  The stitching is much lighter colour possibly indicating the loop is a later addition.  But there are areas of stitched repairs to the flap and to one side seam.  That side seam has been restitced with the lighter colour thread.




Seems to read HSI 1957?

Are driver's pouches common with the ABL?  I have not encountered one before.  Do we think this was made like this or would it be a convertsion from a standard pouch?

I can see no signs that the 1911 clips have been removed, and no wear on the fabric there the brass would have rubbed.

Very interesting - I have not encountered factory-made ABL MT pouches before. It is hard to say if these have been converted from basic pouches. Perhaps shine a bright light inside the pouch in a darkened room, and see if there are traces of stitch holes from where the clips were sewn on?

Wolverine wrote:Very interesting - I have not encountered factory-made ABL MT pouches before. It is hard to say if these have been converted from basic pouches. Perhaps shine a bright light inside the pouch in a darkened room, and see if there are traces of stitch holes from where the clips were sewn on?

Thanks for the reply, Andrew.   Worklamp inside showd no holes but on turning the pouch inside out, there is clearly signs of four rows of stitching that would have run down the sides of the 1911 clips, so it is a conversion.  But conversion of not it is a genuine item, and I love it.  Converted equipment appeals to me.




I am not too sure how well the photo shows this,  I might have to re-photograph over the wek-end when I am at home in daylight hours.

Looking at it, it seems the restitching of a side seem, may well have been because this seam was opened to allow stitching of the lower end of the belt loop within the pouch, and then after the loop was attached, the side seam was reclosed. I now see that this opening and restitching was done to enable access for the conversion.

Now I need to find an in service photo of one being worn.   I can't say "hang on, that pouch looks like a MT drivers pouch.  I'll have to work out best way of displaying it on a webbing set now. Guess I will need a couple of Attachments, Brace with an ABL stamp?   That could be fun to find!!!!

I think these were converted for general purpose convenience, and not necessarily to replicate the MT pouch. Photographs from the Congo show basic pouches worn low on the belt without any braces. Probably those pouches were converted just like the ones you have. Belt loops were also added to the canteen carrier, so that it could be worn on the belt without braces.